22nd Apr 2005 12:00
St. Modwen Properties PLC22 April 2005 St. Modwen Properties PLC AGM Statement St. Modwen Properties PLC is a property development and investment companyconcentrating on regeneration. It has four particular areas of specialism: towncentre regeneration; partnering industry in its restructuring; renewal ofbrownfield land; and heritage restoration. At its Annual General Meeting today, Anthony Glossop, Chairman of St. ModwenProperties PLC said: "In my chairman's statement within the 2004 Annual Report, I said that thecurrent financial year had started well. I am pleased to be able to confirmthat since I made that statement in February, the company has continued to makeprogress. "We continue to secure the development sales required to meet our annual profitplan. In particular, we have exchanged contracts for the sale of the greaterpart of our Harpurhey District Centre development and for further residentialland at Hilton. We have also contracted to provide a major distributionfacility for Pirelli at Centre 38 in Staffordshire which has been forward soldto Clerical & Medical. In addition, we have a number of other residential landsales in solicitors' hands, and I am pleased to confirm that there is stillample competition at good prices for the "oven-ready" residential land productwe offer. "Marshalling of opportunities for future development continues to progress.The demolition phase at Edmonton is now complete and construction has started onthe first buildings in the extended centre. At Wembley, we have exchanged thekey contract with Network Rail which will release work on the Wembley Centralrail and tube station in time for the opening of Wembley Stadium and marks amajor milestone in the site assembly and planning process for our owndevelopment. We have also submitted an expression of interest for the majorElephant & Castle project being promoted by Southwark Council. "Although there has been no "headline grabbing" deal to report, a number ofuseful acquisitions continue to be made. In addition to ones supportingexisting projects at Bedford and Hatfield, acquisitions completed or insolicitors' hands will add a further 166 acres to our development land bank. "The MG Rover situation has led to a fair degree of publicity for the company inview of our ownership of most of Longbridge and our involvement with AdvantageWest Midlands as the developer of the remainder. Together these holdingsprovide some 330-acres of developable land in a prominent position in SouthBirmingham, well connected to the motorway network. "The short-term position is uncertain until the administrator is furtheradvanced with his work and is in a position to confirm whether he has along-term requirement for any part of the site in his attempts to securepurchasers for any parts of MG Rover's business. We will then be able to agreewith him what part of the site comes back to us and in what timescale. "In the meantime, we will be holding discussions with Advantage West Midlandsand the relevant local authorities as to the likely ongoing developmentsituation. This month we were successful in obtaining planning consent forAdvantage West Midlands on 40-acres of their ownership for a technology parktogether with a small neighbourhood centre. "Whilst we will undoubtedly suffer some loss of income whilst we go through thisprocess, MG Rover's failure does offer the chance for a significant andsustainable regeneration project to underpin the future of this part of the WestMidlands. "I also have to report that James Shaw, who was intending to stand forre-election, has taken a position with UK Coal advising that company on itsproperty portfolio. "Whilst no conflict of interest has arisen to date and, indeed, no conflict mayarise in the future, James, has I think quite properly felt that it would bebetter to avoid the possibility of such a conflict arising and has, therefore,decided not to offer himself for re-election. "It is with considerable regret that we have accepted his decision because inthe four years that James has been on the board, he has been an extremely usefulboard member and his interest in and advice on a number of our projects has beenof benefit both to the board and the executive team. "I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity of thanking him for hissupport and wishing him every success in his new position. "In the meantime we have started a search for a new non-executive director tobring the board up to strength." 22 April 2005 ENQUIRIES: St. Modwen Properties PLC www.stmodwen.co.ukAnthony Glossop, Chairman 0121 456 2800Bill Oliver, Chief ExecutiveTim Haywood, Finance Director College Hill www.collegehill.comAlex Sandberg / Gareth David 020 7457 2020 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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